Validation of the French Version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life HIV Instrument

PURPOSE: Quality of life is a key element in the follow-up of people living with HIV/AIDS. The main purpose of this study was to validate the French version of the WHOQOL-HIV instrument by comparing this instrument to a generic questionnaire. The second objective was to test the reproducibility of this questionnaire. METHOD: The WHOQOL-HIV and SF-36 questionnaires were filled out by 50 patients on two separate occasions with a time interval of 2 weeks. The internal consistency, validity and reliability of the WHOQOL-HIV were evaluated. RESULTS: The internal consistency was acceptable for the different domains, with Cronbach’s alpha ranging from 0.937 to 0.944. The facet-domain correlations were all statistically significant (p<0.001). There was a correlation between the domains from the WHOQOL-HIV and SF-36 questionnaires, with coefficients ranging from 0.349 to 0.763 (p<0.05 for all), except for the Spirituality domain. The test-retest reliability was suitable for all domains and facets, with statistically significant intra-class coefficients between 0.615 and 0.931. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that the French translation of the WHOQOL-HIV instrument is a valid and reproducible tool for the evaluation of the quality of life for HIV-infected patients.